Global Trade In The Border Of Hazardous Waste Transfer

Along with the economic globalization, the global trade has developed rapidly, resultingin an amount of environmental problems and menace to people’s life. Among which, thetransboundary movements of hazardous wastes is representative in transnationalenvironmental pollution. This study has analyzed the further control of the transboundarymovements of hazardous wastes from the perspective of international regime, emphasizingthe importance of promoting international cooperation on establishing international regime,putting forward the theoretical hypothesis of resolving the transboundary movements ofhazardous wastes through establishing an efficient international environmental regime.First of all, this study sorts out the definitions of hazardous wastes and their concretecategories, analyzing the menace of hazardous wastes as well as their transboundarymovements to the ecological environment and people’s life, and on this basis, giving aconclusion of the causes of the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes. Via thedetailed analysis of the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, this study proposesthat it is urgent to control the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and deal withthis issue.Then, this study shifts to the perspective of international laws in the internationalcommunity, sorting out the three phases of the international law controlling thetransboundary movements of hazardous wastes. From1970s, each nation has paid moreattention to the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, and begun to sign somemultilateral or bilateral agreements, which is the initial exploration and attempt to control andhandle the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes in the range of international laws.In order to dealing with the globally increasing issue of international transportation ofhazardous wastes, the executive council of the United Nations Environmental Programrequires to formulate a global convention on the control of the transboundary movements ofhazardous wastes in June,1987. Later, all nations have agreed to sign the Basel Conventionon the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. Thisconvention is the first and most important international environmental treatypact whichcontrols the hazardous wastes and their transboundary movements in a stringent way and encharges the treaty parties to ensure environmental harmless management, especially in thephase of wastes disposing. In order to make up for the deficiency of the concreteresponsibility and compensation articles in the Basel Convention, and to enhance theeffectiveness and implementation, after a decade of negotiation between the developed anddeveloping countries, the fifth assembly of treaty parties finally enacted the Basel Protocolon Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements ofHazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.Next, this study shifts to the analysis of international regime theory, presenting in adetailed way the theories of the three schools in international regime, and endeavoring toextract theoretical bases that benefits to the further control of the transboundary movementsof hazardous wastes and their disposal. After a thorough study on the neo-realism,neo-liberalism and constructivism, this study puts forward a crucial viewpoint, which is weneed to assimilate the viewpoint of neo-realism on power and national benefit. Meanwhile,we need to learn from the viewpoint of neo-liberalism on international cooperation. At last,constructivism is a theory widely applied in global environmental improvement, especiallythe three factors put forward by Went: mutual knowledge, physical resources and practicalactivity. All these theories have well guided the activities carried out by all nations andentities.At last, this study investigates the strategic choices of China in its future participating inthe control of the transboundary movements of the hazardous wastes from China’sperspective.